Crimson Rosella (Platycerus elegans)

SE Australia red form

The Crimson Rosella is a common, and highly variable parrot found in southeastern Australia and the upland wet tropics of north Queensland. The birds here were filmed in Canberra, where it is an abundant and much enjoyed inhabitant of bushland, forest and gardens. Here seen feeding on autumn flower seeds. The bird with the green wing feathers is a juvenile. See below for the yellow form of this bird that occurs along the major river systems to the west of Canberra towards South Australia.

yellow race

The yellow form of the Crimson rosella is found along the River Murray and the Murrumbidgee in southern NSW, northern Victoria and SE South Australia. It is fairly common in river red gum forests along these rivers. It looks very different to the Crimson form found just to the east, however they will interbreed. For whatever reason, this form of the species seems to me to be relatively shy and less easy to approach than the red ones up in the mountains and around Canberra.